The Great Eight
by lukeandlor383
Summary: Season eight, the way I see it. - What I think should happen to resolve and unravel. As always, JJ.
1. Chapter 1

The Great Eight.

Summary/Introduction - I've been waiting what seems like forever for the CW to resurrect Gilmore Girls and nothing has happened. Maybe, like they did with 90210 and Melrose Place, Gilmore Girls will be back sometime in the future. Until then, here's my version. The way it I think everything should be. The plan is to do 22 chapters, one chapter per episode. And if it comes out as good as I'd like it to, perhaps I'll do a season nine. I suppose it all depends on what you, the reader, thinks. So please, if you read and like it, or don't, leave a review. Even the mean one's help me out. (:

Disclaimer: Not mine. But, a girl can dream, right?

8.01 - In the Dark that Fills My Mind

* * *

Lorelai stood at the edge of the JFK International Airport terminal in New York City for forty five minutes after Rory's plane departed. Tears welled in her eyes every time a plane took off, and she stared blankly at the tarmac, hoping that by some strange occurrence, Rory would have changed her mind and come back. After an hour of waiting, she came to terms with the fact that she wouldn't see her little girl for a long time. She would have to drive the hour and a half back to Stars Hollow alone, go back into the Crap Shack, alone and continue on with her life. Alone.

Her thoughts wandered, then, to Luke. They hadn't exactly talked since their kiss at Rory's going away party the night before. Though she saw him earlier that morning and it wasn't weird, it wasn't awkward… it just was. Maybe she wouldn't be as alone as she initially thought. But did she want to take the chance with Luke again? Risk getting hurt, again? That was a silly question. Luke is the only man that Lorelai Victoria Gilmore has ever loved. She still did, and she always would. It was time to start their middle.

With that decided, she finally stood up, straightened her clothes, wiped the stray tear from her cheek and walked toward the exit, to her car, and started the long drive back to Stars Hollow.

---

When Rory boarded the plane, it took her a full ten minutes to fasten her seatbelt. For the simple reason that she just wasn't sure that she wanted to go. She would be on the road following presidential hopeful Barack Obama for an indefinite amount of time. Should he win the preliminaries and be the official candidate for the Democratic Party, she'd be gone longer. (Secretly though, she still hoped Hilary would win it.). Other than the summer she spent in Washington D.C before her senior year, she'd never been away from her mother for an extended length of time. She worried about Lorelai, more than she knew she should. Lorelai was strong, and she would be fine. She has Sookie, and Jackson, and Michel and she had Luke again. That was what mattered most. Just as the plane's engines roared to a start, Rory fastened her seatbelt, leaned back, closed her eyes and drifted to sleep. It was going to be a long flight, and a long journey.

---

The bell above the old door at Luke's diner rang aloud, and Luke looked up from the paperwork he was fiddling with at the counter. "Hey, you've been gone a while. You get lost?" He asked, Lorelai jokingly.

"Nah, I just didn't want to believe she was actually gone. You know?"

"You watch the planes for a little while?"

"Yup. She's really gone Luke. Our little girl has moved on to bigger and better things. Left the small town life behind her. She's off chasing presidential hopefuls, and writing and…" Lorelai choked back tears. By now, Luke had abandoned his work and walked around the counter to take Lorelai in his arms. The entire diner was mesmerized by the display and yet no body said anything.

"Do you want to go upstairs?" Luke suggested. "Everyone's sort of…"

"Yeah," She cut him off. "If that's okay?"

"Absolutely. You want me to come with you?"

"If you don't mind." He nodded, wordlessly and followed her up the familiar stairs to his apartment above the diner.

---

Dragonfly Inn

"Sookie," Michel called. "Where is Lorelai?" He asked, stepping into the kitchen.

Sookie stood in front of the stove stirring some sort of white sauce. "She had to take Rory to the airport this morning. She said she'd be in, but she's probably not feeling up to it. You may be on your own today, Michel."

"I did not know that Rory was leaving so soon."

"Mhm, she caught her flight early this morning."

"Oh how sad." He said sarcastically, and exited the kitchen.

---

Gilmore House, Hartford

"Richard, did Lorelai call you this morning?" Emily asked, before taking a sip of her coffee.

"No, Rory called before she boarded the plane though, she said everything was on time, she was excited and that Lorelai would be here Friday night for dinner as usual."

"Very good. Will Christopher be coming with her?"

"Emily, please. Haven't you given up on him yet? They've gotten a divorce, everything is done, final, legal and official. Don't press her on it."

"Well can you blame me Richard? The girl can't commit to a damn thing. Ideally I would like for her and Christopher to reconcile and be a family again, like they're supposed to be."

"Do not be silly, Emily. You know as well as I do that it will never happen. It's not even a slight possibility. There is no way. Drop it now, and do not bring it up again."

"You want her to get back with Luke, don't you Richard?" Emily asked, shocked.

"I'm not saying that it would be the best thing for her, she could clearly do much better but Luke is a fine man, and clearly the only man she's loved enough to stick it out for. If he hadn't created the mess with his daughter for himself, they would still be together, happy, married and we might even have more grandchildren by now. Even you had accepted them as a couple by the end of it."

"Sure, when I thought I didn't have a say in the matter."

"Don't fool yourself Emily, you had nothing to do with them staying together, or separating. Lorelai does what she wants to do."

"Then why did she leave Luke?"

"Do you listen when she speaks to you Emily? Luke left her. She asked him to go away with her, and to marry her right then, and he said nothing. She took that as a 'no.'."

"I know, and then she walked away. I remember quite clearly. SHE walked away from HIM."

"I don't wish to discuss this anymore, Emily. I'm going to go the office."

"Fine, have a good day." And with that, Richard asked the maid for his coat and walked out the door.

---

Luke's Apartment

"How're you doing? Luke asked. It had been an hour since Lorelai had come into the diner, originally. She'd asked for a while to herself, and that's exactly what he gave her. He waited a half an hour, and when she still hadn't come downstairs, he figured he'd go up and check on her.

"I'm okay. I'm sorry I'm monopolizing your apartment, I just… I can't go home you know? I can't go to the inn. I feel like everywhere I go, there's Rory except she's not actually there."

"She'll be back, Lorelai. You know she'll be back."

"But when? There is no timeline. It could be next week, month, year. I just.. I cannot stand not knowing, Luke."

"I know." He looked at her, sitting there staring that the ceiling, tears rolling from her beautiful blue eyes. It reminded him vaguely of a time that seemed like forever ago, Paul Anka was sick for the first time, and she stayed up all night. She stared at blankly for hours, before he'd come into Rory's room where she sat in a chair wrapped in blankets, spouting on and on about what a terrible mother she was. "Do you want me to make you some coffee?"

"I'm so pathetic that you're offering to make me coffee? Oh now I know there is something seriously wrong."

"I just… I like to see you happy, Lorelai." He'd uttered the exact same words the night before, right before they'd shared their first embrace, and their first kiss in a long, long time.

"I know you do, Luke. And I love you for it." Their eyes locked for a moment, and silence encompassed the room. Lorelai broke it, "Always have, and I always will." She leaned over the arm of the chair she was sitting in and kissed Luke, passionately. Neither of them broke that kiss for quite some time.

* * *

TBC?

This is just a little hint of what is to come, I guess.

Let me know what you think!


	2. I Just Called, To Say, I Love You

The Great Eight.

A/N - Thank you for all of your kind reviews, I am so glad you guys enjoy reading as much as I enjoy writing!

Someone asked about chapter length; chapter length will vary according to the storyline as well as how much I can write in the allotted time I allow myself, because in the past I'd go months without updating, and that's not going to happen again.

Someone else asked about other characters besides the girls (such as Lane, Paris, ect.) The answer is yes! They will be in here, just not quite yet.

Disclaimer: Not mine. But, a girl can dream, right?

8.02 - I Just Called, To Say, I Love You.

---

Luke's Apartment, 7:45AM

When Lorelai and Luke woke up the following morning, entangled in each other's limbs for the first time in a long time, they both smiled brightly. Finally, where they knew they belonged.

"Mm, what time is it, Luke?" Lorelai asked, bringing herself closer to Luke who just as she, was lacking clothing.

Luke looked over his shoulder, trying his best not to move anything but his head."It's 7:45, what time do you have to be at the Inn?"

"I should be there at nine." She took a deep breath and kissed Luke's chest. "I should get up, I guess." She started to move, "i don't want to move." Luke looked down at her and seized the opportunity to kiss her. "Now, I really don't want to move." Lorelai wrapped her arms tightly around Luke's neck and pulled him onto her.

"Then don't go." He whispered sensually, right before reenacting several hot and steamy scenes from the night before.

---

Dragonfly Inn, 9:00AM

"Morning, Sookie." Lorelai said, smiling brightly as she walked into the kitchen.

"Morning. Coffee?" Sookie asked, slumped against the kitchen's island.

"Yeah, fresh pot?" Sookie simply nodded. "What's wrong, hon? Bad morning."

"It's Jackson." Sookie closed her eyes, and placed her head in her hands.

"What? What's wrong?"

"He…He…" She paused, and Lorelai waiting patiently. "He won't sell me peaches. All I want to do is make some delicious peach cobbler with homemade french ice cream… and a peach sauce with," she emphasized, "little, tiny peach pieces inside. Little ones."

Lorelai looked at her for a moment. "You're depressed because Jackson won't sell you his peaches?"

"Yes."

"Why won't he sell you the peaches, Sookie?"

"Because he said the last time I needed a lot of peaches I squeezed the entire box, rolled one on the ground, and made you eat one. I ruined the whole box and didn't buy one."

"Sookie, honey, that was eight years ago."

"I know."

"Okay, well, I'll call Jackson later okay?" Sookie nodded. "I'm going to go into the lobby now, okay?" Sookie nodded. "Okay, feel better, sweetie."

"Oh, I'll try."

Lorelai took her cup of coffee and walked through the kitchen, the dining room and into the lobby.

"Good morning Michel."

"Lorelai, good, we are out of purple sticky notes." Michel announced.

"So go buy some more…?" Lorelai replied as she approached the desk, and began fingering through the stacks of papers.

"No. I am paid to stand behind this desk and that is what I shall do. I will not go parading around town in search of silly purple post its. That is your job."

"Michel, if you want purple sticky notes. Go buy them."

"But I am paid to stand here." He said, defiantly. "Please go and buy some Lorelai, my system will be all screwed up, and I will not know what to do with myself."

"Michel, I just got here like five minutes ago. I'll go later."

"No. I need them now."

"Why do you need them now?"

"Because guests will start to check out soon, and for that I need purple post it notes." Lorelai glared at him for a moment before saying,

"Fine. I will go and buy your post it notes." She said angrily, grabbing her purse and walking towards the door.

"Thank you!"

"Ughhh!"

--

Rory practically jogged through the maze of people, leather book bag hanging at her size, notebook in hand. It was difficult to take in her surroundings, she'd never seen anything like it before. Everywhere she turned, another politician, another reporter, flashbulbs seemingly attached to photographer's hands… it was slightly overwhelming. Her first day on the job, and she was scared out of her mind. When she finally found where she was supposed to be, the marked off "Reporters Section: VIP" of the arena, she took a seat in the front and patiently waited for Presidential Hopeful Obama to come out and speak. She took frantic notes of her surroundings, and sat very still.

She was so consumed with her surroundings, that Rory barely noticed the incredibly handsome guy who happened to approach her. "Hey, is there anyone sitting with you?" He asked.

"Oh, no. You can sit here, if you like." Rory replied, smiling. She removed her leather bag from the seat, and smiled sweetly. For a moment she took in the entirety of the man's appearance. Tall, probably about 6'2, dark brown hair and beautiful blue eyes, almost as bright as her own.

"Thanks. I'm sort of new to this, and I wasn't sure where to sit."

"You're new too? Today is my first day on the job."

"Finally, another newbie. Everyone else is so serious and intense it's rough to find someone to talk to. I'm Daniel by the way."

"I'm Rory, it's nice to meet you."

"Rory… is that short for something?" Daniel asked, his inquisitive reporter nature taking over.

"Yeah, short for Lorelai. My mom's name is Lorelai too, so she started calling me Rory when I was really little so it would be less confusing."

"Your mom some sort of crazy feminist or something? You don't hear of too many women naming their girls after them."

"A little feminist, a little Demerol." Rory laughed, Daniel laughed too. Rory caught a glimpse of his gorgeous smile and instantly felt weak at the knees. She thought of how convenient it was that she was sitting so she didn't fall, and also how incredibly pathetic that made her feel. She hadn't felt this way about a guy in a long time. Even when she first met Logan she was far too preoccupied with what a jerk he was to realize how attractive, or how they would be as a couple. With Daniel, though, the instant spark was there. They had chemistry. They had things in common. "So, are you on the campaign trail for the duration?" Rory asked.

"Oh yeah. The entire shebang." He replied, quickly.

"Me too, good to know I won't have to sit alone." She smiled, and the lights quickly dimmed signaling the arrival of Presidential hopeful, Barack Obama.

--

Crap Shack

Lorelai managed to make it through the day without thoughts of Rory's departure, unknown return date or anything of the sort. As she turned the handle on her front door and the familiar scent of home overtook her every sense, she realized that she hadn't yet spoken to her daughter since she left. Immediately thoughts of plane crashes and fire and smoke filled her head…

Then the phone rang.

"Hello?" Lorelai answered nervously.

"Mom? Hey! I've been trying to call you all day!" Rory nearly yelled.

"Oh honey, I've been at work and buying sticky notes all day, did you try my cell phone?"

"It was off, but I called every ten minutes anyway."

"I'm so sorry.."

The conversation continued as if there were no distance between Lorelai and Rory. They each shared the goings on of their day, and plans for the next day. Lorelai complained about Michel and asked for advice about Luke, and Rory told Lorelai about Daniel.

"So, is he cute?"

"How is that relevant? I was telling you that I found a friend, and you ask if he's cute?"

"Rory, honey, how old are you?"

"Twenty-two."

"Rhetorical question, but… at twenty two years old how likely is it that you'll be able to keep a steady male 'friend'?"

"Not every male that I meet wants to date me."

"Poor naive, girl. I didn't say date."

"What are you implying?"

"Rory, I'm just saying that you're a young, viable commodity." Rory was quiet for a moment.

Then, she replied, "Are you saying that every male that I meet wants to have sex with me? Because that is utterly ridiculous, and disgusting. And crazy! We're both very, mature people and we can handle being friends without the constant sexual tension. Not everyone is you and Luke."

Lorelai feigned a gasp, "You're just in denial. The first step is, in fact, acceptance."

"Mom, I have to go." Rory said, with finality. Exhausted with the conversation.

"Awh, so soon?" Lorelai laughed.

"It's never soon enough." Rory joked.

"Ouch. Don't me mean to the mommy. I miss you!"

"I miss you too, mom. I'll call you tomorrow."

"Okay, bye hon." And with that, they both hung up.

Lorelai sat alone on her couch for a few minutes, replaying the quick conversation in her head. Her thoughts continuously reverted to Rory and how much she missed her. Their conversation was far too short, and there wasn't enough information shared for Lorelai's liking. This long distance mother-daughter relationship was not going to work well for Lorelai. With a defeated sigh, Lorelai threw down the phone and trudged up the stairs and slipped into bed.

--Rory ~

As Rory settled herself into bed, she thought of her mother who was surely having a difficult time with their separation, but she also thought of her new friend Daniel in relation to what Lorelai had said. Was it possible that she could have a relationship with Daniel? Would it be too soon after breaking up with Logan? Everything seemed so incredibly jumbled in her head, that she decided to simply sleep it off. She reached over and turned off the lamp beside her, turned over in the uncomfortable hotel bed and slowly drifted to sleep.

--

TBC

I'm so sorry this took so long, I fail, I know. Longer Chapters from here on out, too. I swear!


	3. The Dawn is Breaking

Disclaimer: Not mine. But, a girl can dream, right?

Little** Spoiler** for future reference; I've always been a closet Literati. (;

Oh, and Gypsy is a badass. I've always loved her.

AND, finally, please excuse any extreme OOC moments. I try to keep them in character as best I can, but I'm not as great as I like to think I am.

8.03 – The Dawn is Breaking, The Light's Shining Through

* * *

It had been just over two weeks since Rory Gilmore had departed from Stars Hollow and things were finally beginning to seem almost normal for Lorelai. She got back into her normal schedule (wake up, drink coffee, get ready for work, drink coffee, go to Luke's, drink coffee, and so on…) The only thing that was not quite back on track, that she fully intended to work on, was her relationship with the one and only Lucas Danes. In all the craziness of adapting to life without Rory as a constant presence, Lorelai had neglected her fragile, unconventional relationship with the love of her life. In the last two weeks it seemed to be based strictly on sex, and that just wasn't okay with her.

So, she woke up at seven o'clock, got ready for her day quickly and arrived at Luke's Diner promptly at eight, just after the early morning rush, and just before the mid morning rush.

"Luke, let's talk."

"Good morning to you, too." Luke replied, "Why the sudden urge to be so chatty at eight in the morning?"

"I'm sorry I've been so weird, lately. I am completely and totally devoted to spending as much time as possible with you to make up for lost time. I want to work everything out, Luke. I want us back. I want to wake up next to you, every day. I want us to get married in the perfect church, in the perfect dress, on the perfect date. I want you to help me plan the wedding and I don't want to rush everything this time. I want to agree on a time span. I just want my middle, Luke, and I want it with you. I know to you this probably all seems so out of left field, but I feel like I need to say it because I love you, Luke. I really, really love you. You're the only man I've ever actually been IN love with." Lorelai finished her tirade and then simply sat down on her stool.

Luke stared back at her for a moment, digesting all of the information that Lorelai had spat at him. Then when he finally spoke, all he said was, "I love you too, Lorelai. You know that I love you." He removed the signature blue baseball cap from his head to run his fingers through his tousled hair. "I just…" He began again, "I don't want for you to plan the wedding, get everything all set up and whatnot and then have to postpone again because Rory isn't here. You know as well as I do that you're going to want to wait for Rory to come home for us to get married. And her return is kind of up in the air right now."

Lorelai stared up at Luke, her eyes welling with tears at the thought of Rory's absence. "Then we'll take our sweet time and make sure everything is absolutely perfect. Hopefully Rory will be home soon, anyway." Lorelai smiled.

"If you're sure, Lorelai then we'll do this. But we're going to do it right."

"That's what I want."

"And_ I'm_ going to propose this time?"

"I'd like that."

"On my terms?" Luke asked.

"You're going to make me wait for it, aren't you?"

"You betcha." He replied, with a sly grin spreading across his scruffy face.

Lorelai stood up on her tippy-toes and kissed Luke once, "Cruel man." Then kissed him a second time, this time giving him a slightly sexier kiss, "But," she kissed him once more, "two can plan that game." She kissed him long and hard this final time, and just as she noticed him feeling the moment, she pulled back brushed a piece of hair from her face and began walking out towards the door. "Maybe I'll be back for lunch." She smiled.

"You better." Luke picked up his rag and started washing down the counter, and Lorelai walked out the door of the diner, and started her day.

--

In the two weeks that Rory had been on the Campaign trail following Barack Obama she'd been through four states, (Iowa, Illinois, Indiana and Ohio) and she'd learned a lot, about journalism and it's demands, about politics, and even more about Daniel. They had, in two weeks, become great friends.

"So, Rory I've told you everything about myself, and yet, I feel like I know nothing about you. What's your story?" He asked, they sat together in the hotel's lobby eating the cheap continental breakfast. It was 6:30 AM, they didn't need to be at their destination until 9, but they'd made a deal to meet for breakfast every morning. Rory was in no position to decline even considering the ungodly hour, because, she wouldn't deny it, she was incredibly attracted to Daniel.

"My story isn't that interesting," she laughed taking a bite of her bacon.

"I'm sure it is, come on. Tell me everything."

"Alright, my mom was really young when she had me, sixteen actually, and my dad wasn't ever really around growing up. He lived mostly in California and my mom and I stayed in Connecticut. So for most of my childhood it was just my mom and I, but she was really more like my best friend than anything else. I went to high school at Chilton, then Yale for college. That's pretty much it."

"Oh, come on, you left out all the juicy details!" Daniel exclaimed, leaning back in his chair.

"There weren't a whole lot of juicy details to my childhood," she laughed, "I was a good kid."

"What about boyfriends, I bet you had a lot of them." Daniel prodded, his journalistic interviewing skills clearly shining through.

"There were three." She said simply.

"Three serious ones, you mean?"

"Well yeah, but there were only three. Ever. I was never much into dating, I like relationships, and I like long term relationships."

"Interesting. Tell me about the first one."

"Are we playing twenty questions?" Rory joked.

"If we are, I've got 18 left. Now, answer."

"Fine," she smiled. "The first one's name was Dean. I was sixteen and we were together for more than two years. It was the whole blissful first love thing, kid stuff really. We broke up because we sort of grew apart, and wanted to pursue different interests." She took another bite of her breakfast. "I found a new boyfriend almost immediately, and he got married to the next girl he dated."

"Enter boyfriend number two. What's his name? What's his story?" Daniel questioned, clearly very interested in her past love life.

"Jess, who is ironically enough the nephew of my mom's fiancé."

"Scandalous, continue."

"He was your typical bad boy, leather jacket, didn't talk much, didn't seem to care much. My mom hated him, it really put a strain on my mom and Luke's friendship at the time." Daniel looked confused. "Luke is Jess's uncle, Jess was living with him at the time."

"So Luke is your mom's fiancé."

"More or less, yeah." Daniel looked confused, again. "That's a different story." He nodded. "Jess and I didn't date for that long, but I loved him, a lot. More, I think than I did Dean because we just… we didn't have to talk, and be all lovey to know that we cared about each other. We had the deeper connection that Dean and I didn't have. But, Jess being Jess, disappeared one day and I didn't hear from him for a really long time. Turns out Luke kicked him out because he wasn't going to graduate high school, so he fled to California to search for his dad."

"Tragic story of love lost, then."

"You could say that, but it's all for the best. My mom and Luke are perfect for each other, if Jess and I had stayed together, we'd be like… cousins and that's weird." They both laughed, for a moment.

"And magic number three?"

"What makes you think number three is magical?" Daniel shrugged and motioned for her to continue. "Logan and I met my freshman year at Yale and I hated him at first, he was the stereotypical wealthy asshole. He talked down to whomever he deemed was not on his level. But, he was exceptionally interesting. We had a no strings thing for a while, but I realized that wasn't what I wanted, so I sort of gave him an ultimatum. And he chose to be my boyfriend. We dated all through college and finally he asked me to marry him and I said no. Haven't spoken to him since."

"Why'd you say no?"

"If I had said yes, I would have had to give up all of my dreams and aspirations. And, I didn't want to move to California. Too far from my mom. We have a weird bond."

"Interesting. Do you regret it?"

"Not even a little. I'm way too young to think about getting married. Girls just wanna have fun." She smiled, flirtatiously.

"I'll drink to that." He raised his orange juice, Rory raised her coffee and they both drank and laughed.

--

Luke's Diner

In the midst of the afternoon lull, Luke was sorting through receipts, his least favorite past time when the bell above the door rang. Out of habit, he looked up to see Lane and Zach holding their two baby boys.

"Hey Luke!" Lane exclaimed, happily and bubbly as usual.

"Luke, man, what's up?" Zach added.

"Hey, Lane, Zach." He looked down at their babies, "Kwan, Steve. How's everything going?"

"Great, great," Lane said. "We just thought we'd drop by so I could ask you if you would mind if I took back my job? The boys are slightly less dependent on me, and Zach has some awesome opportunities with a couple of bands in New York, so he couldn't work nights any more. I miss it here!"

"Are you sure it's not too soon?"

"Absolutely! Look at them, they're not even crying! They're growing up so fast, man." Zach said.

"As long as you're ready to come back, I'm happy to have you."

"You're the best Luke!" Lane bellowed, "Do you need me tonight or should I come in tomorrow?"

"Why don't you come in tomorrow? I think I might close up early tonight for the town meeting. Lorelai will probably want me to go with her."

"Okay, good. See you tomorrow, Luke." Lane smiled brightly and headed towards the door.

"Hey man, I'm really happy that you and Lorelai are back together." Zach added, turning slightly away.

"Thanks Zach." Luke grumbled, and went back to his receipts. Not five minutes later, Kirk walked in and sat in the stool directly in front of Luke, staring at him expectantly. "Why are you staring at me, Kirk?" Luke asked.

"Because I'm hungry."

"Your hunger causes you to stare?"

"I walked into the diner to get food, you haven't asked me what I want yet."

"You just walked in, I was finishing what I was doing and hen I was going to get to you."

"But I'm hungry now."

"Kirk, you just got here, calm down."

"Aren't you going to ask me what I want?"

"Kirk, you're annoying me. Shut up, let me finish what I'm doing, and then you can tell me what you want."

"Okay, Luke. I'll wait." … "LUKE! I AM STARVING!" Kirk exclaimed. Luke put down his receipts and glared at Kirk for a moment.

"What do you want Kirk?"

"Coffee, quarter-caf and a cheeseburger please."

"What the hell is quarter-caf?"

"Luke, I order the same coffee every day."

"Kirk, I give you decaf everyday."

"But I ask for quarter-caf! One quarter caffeinated, three quarters decaf!" Luke turned around took one of his oversized mugs and filled it to the brim with decaf coffee. "That's all decaf." Luke hardened his glare. "I've had too much caffeine today anyway. Thanks Luke."

"Yeah. Your burger will be right up."

--

Dragonfly Inn

"Drangfly Inn, Lorelai speaking."

"Lorelai, it's your mother."

"Hi mom, what can I do for you?" Lorelai asked sarcastically.

"I wanted to remind you that it's Friday night, and we'll be expecting you here for drinks and dinner at six thirty. You may bring a guest if you choose, is Christopher in town? He's always welcome you know…"

"Mom, if you'd like to have Chris over for dinner that's your deal, but if he's there, I'd rather not be."

"I didn't say that he was going to be here, I simply asked you if you knew if he was in town or not. However, I can clearly see that you have no interest in having dinner with him, so I won't press the subject. You may bring a guest, though. If you so choose. Are you seeing anybody Lorelai?"

Lorelai had two options at this point, lie & say no and risk a blind date set up by her mother, or tell the truth and incur the wrath of Emily. "Yeah, I am." She said simply.

"Really? What's his name?" Emily asked, intrigued.

"Um, well, you know him pretty well, already I'd say."

"Do I?" Emily asked. "What's his name Lorelai?"

"Luke." She coughed.

"I'm sorry, I couldn't hear you."

"Luke, mom. I'm seeing Luke again." Emily was quiet for a moment. "Mom? Are you still there?"

"Oh, yes Lorelai I'm here."

"Did you hear me?"

"Oh I heard you. I just hardly have anything to say about it. I'm not exactly surprised, Lorelai. But I'm not entirely thrilled either." She took an audible breath, "Will he be joining you at dinner this evening?"

"I'm not sure, I can ask him." Lorelai replied, growing annoyed with the conversation.

"Well, do. Then call me back and let me know if he'll be coming with you." Emily said, then continued, "and in a timely manner please. I don't need to be sitting around all day waiting for your call. I have to tell the maid how much food she'll need to prepare, and how many places she'll need to set at the table."

"I'll call him right now, and then I'll call you right back, mom." Lorelai replied sarcastically.

"Perfect, thank you Lorelai. Good bye."

"Bye, mom." They both hung up the phone. "Ughh." Lorelai picked up the phone and dialed the familiar number to Luke's Diner.

"Luke's." Luke picked up.

"Just remember that you love me." Lorelai said.

"Okay. What did you do?"

"My mother called,"

"Well that's never good."

"My mother called to remind me about Friday night dinner tonight, and then she practically grilled me about who I was dating, and finally I just told her that we were back together."

"That isn't so bad; why is that bad?" He inquired.

"That isn't what's bad, what's bad is that she asked if you were coming to dinner tonight and I said I'd ask you and call her right back. You don't have to go if you don't want to. I just told her I'd ask."

Luke thought about it for a moment, "Sure, I'll go. If you want me there, if you want to just have dinner with your parents that's more than okay but if you want me to go I will."

"Really?"

"Sure, why not?"

"Okay. Great, let me go call her back."

"Alright, talk to you later. Love you."

"I love you too, Luke." They hung up the phone, and Luke went back to work.

--

After yet another Presidential Campaign speech, Rory turned her phone back on and checked her messages, two from her mom, one from Emily and Richard. Then, she checked her text messages. Again, two from her mom "Hey sweetie," and "Call me soon xoxo". A few from Lane and Paris, and one with the heading 'Urgent'. Her heart began to race a bit, and she opened it immediately. It read,

"Rory, It's Hugo Gray from the magazine, and I've got some pretty grim news. If you could give me a call before you turn in your next article, it would be great. Thanks, Hugo."

So, she called him to figure out what was going on.

"Hugo Gray," He answered.

"Hi Hugo, it's Rory. Your text seemed pretty serious, I just turned my phone on otherwise I would have answered sooner."

"Hi Rory, this is really hard for me to tell you but, we have to shut down the magazine. Our sponsors are backing out left and right, and we can barely make the payments to keep the servers running. We've got you on the next flight to Philadelphia, that's the closest flight they had, all of the flights into New York and Connecticut don't head out until tomorrow and we just didn't want to inconvenience you any more. I'm so sorry, Rory. Thanks for all your great work so far."

"Oh, wow. Okay. When does the flight leave?" Rory asked, running her hands through her hair, nervously.

"You've got four hours or so before it leaves, we sent the information and everything to the hotel. Thanks again, Rory. I'll give you a call if we get everything back up and running."

"Thanks Hugo."

"Bye, Rory."

Rory hung up her phone and looked around at the stadium, she took in her surroundings thought about her experiences, and then she spotted Daniel, waving a cup of coffee at her from a couple of yards away. Not only was she going to have to give up her first real journalism job, but she'd also have to give up on any hope of a relationship with Daniel. When she was honest with herself, she couldn't decide which was worse.

--

TBC ~

More JJ on the way, I swear.

And this chapter was longer! :D


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